Systems and Methods for Integrating Alarm Processing and Presentation of Alarms for a Power Generation System

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for integrating alarm processing and presentation of alarms for a power generation system are described. A template or graphical user interface (GUI) for displaying information associated with alarms may be generated for various types of alarms. Information associated with an alarm may be identified based on certain criteria and stored in a template associated with the alarm for presentation to a user. One or more status messages may be output to a display such a that a user or other person responsible for responding to an alarm may receive a current status associated with an alarm, including that an alarm has been processed and is ready to be acted upon. An alarm may be analyzed, categorized, and escalated based on historical information associated with the alarm, as well as determinations made by a user based on information stored in a template associated with alarm.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the disclosure relate generally to incident reportingand, more particularly, to integrating alarm processing and presentationof alarms for a power generation system.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

A power generation asset, such as a generator or turbine, may experiencealarms for various reasons, such as an occurrence of an abnormalcondition associated with a component in the power generation system.Existing systems and tools may be utilized to query databases or recordsfor indications of such alarms and report the alarms to users who may bemonitoring for the alarms. Such systems and tools, however, may requiremanual efforts from users to, for example, create and execute queries tocollect information related to the alarms. Unfortunately, users mayexperience long delays before information the information related to thealarms is retrieved. Such delays may slow alarm reporting and resolutionbecause, for example, users who may monitor power generation systems foralarms may be unaware when an alarm query has completed so that theusers may act on the alarms.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

Some or all of the above needs and/or problems may be addressed bycertain embodiments of the disclosure. Certain embodiments may includesystems and methods for integrating alarm processing and presentation ofalarms for a power generation system. According to one embodiment, thereis disclosed a method for receiving, by an alarm processing systemcomprising one or more computing devices, an alarm indicating anabnormal condition in power generation asset; identifying, by the alarmprocessing system, data associated with the alarm; identifying, by thealarm processing system, a template for presenting at least a portion ofthe data based at least in part on a type of the alarm; updating, by thealarm processing system, the template with the data; and outputting, bythe alarm processing system, to the display, at least one messageproviding at least one respective status associated with the alarm.

According to another embodiment, there is disclosed one or morecomputer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that,when executed by at least one processor, configure the at least oneprocessor to perform operations comprising receiving an alarm indicatingan abnormal condition in power generation asset, identifying dataassociated with the alarm, identifying a template for presenting atleast a portion of the data based at least in part on a type of thealarm, updating the template with the data, and outputting, to thedisplay, at least one message providing at least one respective statusassociated with the alarm.

According to a further embodiment, there is disclosed a system includingat least one memory that stores computer-executable instructions and atleast one processor configured to access the at least one memory andexecute the computer-executable instructions to receive an alarmindicating an abnormal condition in power generation asset, identifydata associated with the alarm, identify a template for presenting atleast a portion of the data based at least in part on a type of thealarm, update the template with the data, and output, to the display, atleast one message providing at least one respective status associatedwith the alarm.

According to a further embodiment, there is disclosed a method forreceiving, by an alarm processing system comprising one or morecomputing devices, an alarm indicating an abnormal condition in a powergeneration asset; identifying, by the alarm processing system,historical information associated with the alarm; determining, by thealarm processing system, a category associated with the alarm based atleast in part on the historical information; when the category indicatesthat the alarm is actionable, sending a message to one or more useraccounts associated with the alarm before an abnormal conditionassociated with the alarm occurs; and when the category indicates thatthe alarm requires assistance, sending the message to the one or moreuser accounts associated with the alarm requesting assistance to resolvean abnormal condition that has occurred in association with the alarm.

Other embodiments, systems, methods, apparatuses, aspects, and featuresof the disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art fromthe following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and theappended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The detailed description is set forth with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale. The use of the samereference numbers in different figures indicates similar or identicalitems, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example computing system for implementing theprocesses described herein, according to an embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example computing environment for integratingalarm processing and presentation, according to an embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example flow diagram for methods according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example flow diagram for collecting alarminformation, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example flow diagram for presenting alarms andassociated information, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example flow diagram for escalating an alarm,according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Certain implementations will now be described more fully below withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which various implementationsand/or aspects are shown. However, various aspects may be implemented inmany different forms and should not be construed as limited to theimplementations set forth herein; rather, these implementations areprovided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and willfully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Illustrative embodiments of the disclosure relate to, among otherthings, integrating the processing and presentation of alarms associatedwith power generation assets. As used herein, an alarm may refer to anindication that a component or piece of equipment associated with apower generation asset has experienced an abnormal condition or is nolonger performing its intended purpose. One or more sensors may beassociated with a power generation asset to provide such an indicationto devices that may be in communication with the asset either directlyor over a network. Such devices may be utilized to integrate thecollection and presentation of alarms to users, for example, who may beresponsible for responding the alarms in power generation equipment.

According to certain embodiments herein, a template may be generated foreach type of alarm that may occur in a power generation asset. Thetemplate may include certain fields, components, or graphical objects,for example, that may receive data or other information associated withan alarm. In one embodiment, a template may be customized according tothe type of an alarm. Such customization may be based on analysis ofexisting alarm details, or knowledge about which details are prevalent,recurring, or otherwise important for a particular type of alarm.

Power generation assets may be monitored for alarms and, when detected,the alarms may be received and stored for processing. In one embodiment,alarms may be stored in a queue based on a type of the alarm, apredefined priority associated with the alarm, and/or an age of thealarm. Upon receiving an alarm, information associated with the alarmmay be identified by querying one or more information sources that mayinclude information associated with assets. In one embodiment, suchinformation may be identified based on a time in which an alarm wasreceived. The identified information may be populated into a templateassociated with the alarm and output to a display, where the informationmay be viewed by a user or other person who may be responsible forresponding to the alarm, according to one embodiment. One or moremessages may also be output to the display to provide a user with astatus regarding an alarm. For example, a user may receive a messageindicating that a new alarm was received, a new alarm is currently beingprocessed, and a new alarm has been processed and is ready to be actedupon, as non-limiting examples.

Illustrative embodiments of the disclosure may also relate to analysisand escalation of alarms. For example, alarms that are collected andpresented to a user may be analyzed to determine whether the alarms maycause an anomaly in a power generation system, such as a componentfailure, system shutdown, or other abnormal conditions. Historicalinformation associated with the alarms may be analyzed to make such adetermination, in one embodiment. The alarms may be escalated to one ormore user accounts or organizations that may be associated with thealarm for resolution, for example, if a determination is made that analarm may cause an anomaly. In other embodiments, escalation of alarmsmay be based on user input. For example, a user may select certainalarms for escalation, enter details associated with the alarms, andcause an incident report associated with the alarm to be generated anddispositioned to one or more users or organizations for resolution.

The technical effects associated with certain embodiments herein mayinclude, but are not limited to, timelier processing and reporting ofalarms, which may lead to improved response times associated withresolving issues in power generation assets. According to certainembodiments herein, alarms may be automatically processed, associatedwith a template that is relevant to a type of the alarm, and output fordisplay to a user or other person who may respond to the alarm. In thisway, a user may not be required to initiate an alarm and monitor theprocessing of the alarm to, for example, determine whether all of theinformation associated with an alarm has been captured for analysis,which may facilitate the improvement response times mentioned above, aswell as an increase in user efficiency.

FIG. 1 depicts a computing system for processing alarms associated withan asset, according to one embodiment of the disclosure. As shown inFIG. 1, a computing device 110 may communicate with an asset 102, suchas, but not limited to, a generator, a turbine (e.g., gas turbine orsteam turbine), a compressor, or a motor, over one or more networks 105.The one or more networks 105 may include the Internet, intranets, orvarious other types of networks. In some embodiments, a network may notbe used. According to these embodiments, a direct connection may existbetween devices, e.g., the computing device 110 may be directlyconnected to the asset 102. The computing device 110, via one or moresoftware programs or modules described in greater detail below, mayperform a number of functions to implement or facilitate the processesdescribed herein. For example, the computing device may monitor for analarm, query data associated with the alarm based on various criteria(as will be described in greater detail below), store the data in atemplate associated with the alarm as template data results 130, andpresent the template data results 130 to the display 140, which may beviewed by one or more users or persons responsible for responding to thealarm.

FIG. 2 depicts an example computing environment for implementing theprocesses described herein, according to one embodiment of thedisclosure. The computing environment 200 may include one or morecomputing devices, which may include, but are not limited to, aprocessor 204 capable of communicating with a memory 202. The computingenvironment 200 may embody the computing device 110, in one embodiment.The processor 204 may be implemented as appropriate in hardware,software, firmware, or combinations thereof. Software or firmwareimplementations of the processor 204 may include computer-executable ormachine-executable instructions written in any suitable programminglanguage to perform the various functions described.

A memory 202 may store program instructions that are loadable andexecutable on the processor 204, as well as data generated during theexecution of these programs. Depending on the configuration and type ofcomputing environment 200, a memory 202 may be volatile (such as randomaccess memory (RAM)) and/or non-volatile (such as read-only memory(ROM), flash memory, etc.). In some embodiments, the devices may alsoinclude additional removable storage 206 and/or non-removable storage208 including, but not limited to, magnetic storage, optical disks,and/or tape storage. The disk drives and their associatedcomputer-readable media may provide non-volatile storage ofcomputer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, andother data for the devices. In some implementations, the memory 202 mayinclude multiple different types of memory, such as static random accessmemory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or ROM.

The memory 202, removable storage 206, and non-removable storage 208 areall examples of computer-readable storage media. For example,computer-readable storage media may include volatile and non-volatile,removable and non-removable media implemented in any method ortechnology for storage of information such as computer-readableinstructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Additionaltypes of computer storage media that may be present include, but are notlimited to, programmable random access memory (PRAM), SRAM, DRAM, RAM,ROM, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flashmemory or other memory technology, compact disc read-only memory(CD-ROM), digital versatile discs (DVD) or other optical storage,magnetic cassettes, magnetic tapes, magnetic disk storage or othermagnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to storethe desired information and which can be accessed by the devices.Combinations of any of the above should also be included within thescope of computer-readable media.

The computing environment 200 may also contain one or more communicationconnections 210 that allow the devices to communicate with devices orequipment capable of communicating with a computing device. Theconnections can be established via various data communication channelsor ports, such as USB or COM ports to receive connections for cablesconnecting the devices, e.g., control devices, to various other devicesin an IO network. Devices in the IO network 100, e.g., control devices,can include communication drivers such as Ethernet drivers that enablethe devices to communicate with other devices on the IO network.According to various embodiments, the connections 210 may be establishedvia a wired and/or wireless connection on the IO network. The computingenvironment 200 may also include one or more input devices 212, such asa keyboard, mouse, pen, voice input device, and touch input device. Itmay also include one or more output devices 314, such as a display,printer, and speakers.

In other embodiments, however, computer-readable communication media mayinclude computer-readable instructions, program modules, or other datatransmitted within a data signal, such as a carrier wave, or othertransmission. As used herein, however, computer-readable storage mediadoes not include computer-readable communication media.

Turning to the contents of the memory 202, the memory 202 may include,but is not limited to, an operating system (OS) 216 and one or moreapplication programs or modules for implementing the features andaspects disclosed herein. Such programs or modules may include, but arenot limited to, visualization and analysis software 218, a templategeneration module 220, an alarm monitoring module 222, an alarmprocessing module 224, a message status module 226, an alarmpresentation module 228, an alarm analysis module 230, and an alarmescalation module 232.

The visualization and analysis software 218 may provide a graphical userinterface (GUI) that includes a framework for enabling users to viewinformation, such as alarm data or other details associated with analarm. Such a framework may include windows, grids, tables, buttons, andother GUI components to facilitate such viewing. In one embodiment, thevisualization and analysis software 218 may be a commercial off theshelf (COTS) application. According to certain embodiments herein, thevisualization and analysis software 218 may be extended using variousprogramming languages, such as C#, as a non-limiting example, tointegrate the processing and presentation of alarms as described herein.

The template generation module 220 may enable the generation oftemplates for displaying alarm information. In one embodiment, thetemplate generation module 220 may enable a user, for example, to selectand organize certain GUI components for presenting a particularvisualization or view of alarm information. The type and number ofcomponents selected for presenting alarm information, for example, mayvary according to the type of alarm, in one embodiment. As an example,different visualizations may be presented for a turbine that experiencedan alarm than a visualization presented for a component associated witha motor that experienced an alarm. As another example, differentvisualizations may be presented based on a failure mode associated withan asset. In one embodiment, a visualization determined for presentingdetails for a particular alarm may be based on existing knowledge aboutalarms, for example, as may be determined by systems or program modulesthat may analyze existing alarm data and/or specifications associatedwith an alarm to determine which data should be displayed in associationwith an alarm. In another embodiment, a user's existing knowledge, e.g.,as recorded in an issue resolution issue, may be analyzed to determinewhich information associated with an alarm should be presented.According to one example, cycle time metrics associated with an alarmmay be presented in a template. Such a template may be linked to orotherwise associated with another template (e.g., a primary or maintemplate) associated with an alarm.

In addition to alarm information, other data or information that mayidentify an asset that experienced an alarm may also be included in thetemplate. Such information may include a unique identifier associatedwith the asset, a description of the asset, a person or organizationresponsible for resolving issues associated with the asset, a locationof the asset, a maintenance schedule associated with the asset, the dateand time of the last inspection associated with the asset, or variousother information that may identify an asset and may further facilitatethe resolution of an alarm that occurred in the asset.

An alarm monitoring module 222 may monitor an asset 102 for an alarm.Upon detecting an alarm, the alarm monitoring module 222 may store thealarm for processing, e.g., by the alarm processing module 224, as willbe described in greater detail below. In one embodiment, the alarmmonitoring module 222 may store received alarms in a queue, such as aqueue of multiple queues in which received alarms waiting to beprocessed may be stored. In one embodiment, the received alarms may bestored in the queue based on various information, such as, but notlimited to, a predetermined priority associated with the alarm, the ageof the alarm (i.e., an amount of time that has elapsed since the alarmoccurred), and/or the type of alarm. In one aspect of the embodiment,alarms having the same predetermined priority may be stored in the samequeue. Within such a queue, the alarms may be further ranked accordingto age. For example, newer, more critical alarms may be near the top ofthe queue such that they may be processed ahead of older, less criticalalarms, in one embodiment. Alarms may be stored in queues according todifferent criteria, order, etc., in other embodiments.

The alarm processing module 224 may perform a number of functions toimplement the processes described herein. One such function may includeaccessing alarms, for example, as stored in alarm queues. In oneembodiment, the alarm processing module 224 may query the alarm queuesto identify indications that alarms have occurred. Such indications mayprovide information identifying an asset that experienced an alarm, aparticular component within an asset that experienced an alarm, a typeof the alarm, or other information that may be utilized by the alarmprocessing module to identify the alarm. The alarm processing module 224may analyze such information to determine which information to retrieve,such as data associated with the alarm or the asset that experienced analarm (e.g., current measurements or readings regarding the currentstatus, performance, etc., of components associated with an asset thatexperienced the alarm), which template in which to load the information,among other information.

In one embodiment, the template selected for displaying data associatedwith an alarm may be determined based at least in part on the type ofthe alarm. The data may be determined based at least in part on the timeat which the alarm was received. For example, data associated with anasset that may be periodically or continuously reported may beidentified (e.g., queried from a database storing such information)based on the time at which an alarm was received. In one embodiment,data for a particular time period, e.g., a certain amount of time beforeor after an alarm occurred, may be identified and used to compute adelta that may indicate a change in a reading associated with acomponent before and after the alarm occurred. Various other data, suchas data that corresponds to one or more fields identified in a templateassociated with the alarm, may also be identified.

A message status module 226 may provide messages or updates regardingthe current status associated with a request for alarm information. Suchupdates may inform a user, for example, that a new alarm has arrived andit is pending, the new alarm is being processed, the new alarm has beenprocessed and is ready to be acted upon, or various other functions thatmay be performed to implement or facilitate the processes describedherein. In one embodiment, one or more messages provided by the messagestatus module 226 may be associated with identification of a templatefor displaying alarm data, populating the template with alarm data,outputting the alarm data to a display, e.g., by the alarm presentationmodule 228, etc. In one embodiment, color codes may be associated witheach status message. In one example, a green status code may indicate toa user that an alarm has been processed and is ready to be acted upon,while a yellow status code may indicate generally that processing of thealarm has not yet been completed. As used herein, an alarm may beconsidered ready to be acted upon when information associated with thealarm has been populated in each field of a template identified for thealarm. In some embodiments, such as those in which at least a portion ofthe information associated with an alarm was not successfully retrieved,an alarm may be ready to be acted upon when less than each field in atemplate associated with an alarm has been populated. In such instances,the alarm processing module 224 may further indicate that certaininformation that was expected to be retrieved was not retrieved. In someembodiments, certain fields in a template may be designated as criticalsuch that processing of an alarm may not be considered complete unlessinformation associated with such fields has been retrieved.

The alarm analysis module 230 may analyze alarms to facilitateresolution of the alarms, among other functions. Such analysis mayinclude categorizing alarms based on information associated with thealarm, such as the information stored in an alarm template describedabove. In one example, alarms may be categorized as actionable,requiring assistance, or missed. Actionable alarms may refer to alarmsthat require action to prevent an abnormal condition from occurring. Thealarm analysis module 230 may identify actionable alarms by analyzinghistorical data or information associated with the alarms, in oneembodiment. Such data or information may indicate a detailed descriptionof the alarm and actions that were taken to resolve the alarm. The dataor information may include certain statuses or keywords that may beparsed by the alarm analysis module 230 to identify known impendingfailures or anomalies. Such statuses may be received from the powergeneration system in association with receiving an alarm and/or from auser who has entered such information into an incident report, forexample, upon making a determination or confirmation (e.g., if thestatus was received from the power generation system) that an abnormalcondition has occurred or is impending, and hence should be designatedas actionable, in one embodiment. In other embodiments, certain types ofalarms may be associated with outages in a power generation system orcomponents within the power generation system. These alarm types mayalso be classified as actionable alarms.

In certain embodiments, in addition to categorizing alarms, the alarmanalysis module 230 may suggest certain actions, which may also be basedon an analysis of historical information. For example, the alarmanalysis module 230 may identify one or more actions that were taken(e.g., based on information in an incident report associated with thealarm), retrieve the one or more actions, and display the one or moreactions in a template associated with the alarms. A user may view thesuggested actions and determine whether to perform such actions. In someembodiments, the alarm analysis module 230 may initiate certain actionsto resolve actionable alarms. For example, upon determining that aparticular type of alarm causes an outage in a power generation system,the alarm analysis module 230 may send a command that may cause a powergeneration system or component to initiate a restart or other operationthat may prevent an outage.

The alarm analysis module 230 may further facilitate responses to alarmsby outputting a list of possible causes of the alarm. In one embodiment,the list may be generated for only certain types of alarms, for example,alarms for which the alarm analysis module 230 has a relatively highdegree of certainty that it has successfully identified the cause. Thedegree of certainty may be determined based on an analysis of historicalinformation associated with various causes of alarms. Certain causes ofan alarm which are repeatedly identified in historical information asbeing associated with a particular alarm or type of alarm may indicate arelatively high degree of certainty for which the alarm analysis module230 may reliably output a list of possible causes. Causes of an alarmthat are not repetitive and/or not determined to be the actual cause ofthe alarm may be excluded from the list of possible causes. In oneembodiment, actions that may have been taken in response to the alarm(as described above) may be based on the potential causes of the alarm.

Alarms classified as requiring assistance may refer to alarms that areassociated with a power generation system or component that has alreadyfailed. In such instances, a customer, for example, who is served by apower generation system may receive assistance or support in respondingto a failed power generation system. Information associated with analarm requiring assistance, such as information stored in an alarmtemplate (described above), may indicate that a power generation systemhas failed, for example. The alarm analysis module 230 may detect suchan indication and perform various actions in response, such as notifyingone or more users who may be responsible for providing support to thecustomer. The notification may include generating an incident reportthat includes details associated with the alarm and sending the report(e.g., via electronic mail, Short Messaging Service (SMS) textmessaging, or other communication mediums) to the one or more users.

Alarms classified as missed may refer to alarms that resulted in anabnormal condition in a power generation system but were not identifiedas actionable alarms before the abnormal condition occurred. The alarmanalysis module 230 may subsequently label at least some missed alarmsas actionable as a result of the missed alarms not being identifiedbefore the abnormal condition occurred.

The alarm analysis module 230 may be performed using various computerprogramming languages. Example languages may include, but are notlimited to, Matlab, C/C++, Perl, Java, or other compiled languages,byte-code interpreted languages, etc.

The alarm escalation module 232 may facilitate escalation of alarms.According to one configuration, a user may select an alarm associatedwith a power generation system for escalation. In addition to alarminformation presented in a template associated with an alarm asdescribed above, a user may enter additional details, notes,descriptions, etc., associated with an alarm. The alarm escalationmodule 232 may generate an incident report that includes suchinformation and distribute the incident report to one or more users ororganizations that may be responsible for resolving the alarm. In oneexample, the escalation module 232 may send a message (e.g., electronicmail message, SMS text message, etc.) to electronic accounts associatedwith the one or more users or organizations notifying them about thealarm.

The above configuration in FIG. 2 is not meant to be limiting. Fewer ormore modules may exist in other embodiments. Further, at least some ofthe functionality described above may be performed by one or moredifferent modules. For example, the alarm escalation module 232 may alsoperform the functions associated with the alarm analysis module 230.

FIG. 3 depicts an example flow diagram 300 for a method according to oneembodiment of the disclosure. One such method may begin at block 302,where one or more alarms associated with power generation assets may becollected. Processes associated with the collection are described inassociation with FIG. 4. At block 304, the one or more collected alarmsmay be presented, for example, to a user for viewing and analysis.Processes associated with presenting alarms are described in associationwith FIG. 5.

At block 306, the one or more collected alarms may be analyzed, e.g., bythe alarm analysis module 230. As described, the alarm analysis module230 may classify or categorize alarms based on historical informationassociated with certain types of alarms. In one embodiment, alarms maybe classified as actionable (e.g., action is required to prevent anabnormal condition associated with the alarm from occurring), requiringassistance (e.g., an abnormal condition has already occurred and usersor organizations providing support to a customer experiencing theabnormal condition may be notified to assist the customer with resolvingthe abnormal condition), and missed (e.g., a power generation systemexperienced an outage but the alarm associated with the outage was notclassified as actionable, hence a missed opportunity to prevent anoutage). Various other classifications of alarms may exist in otherembodiments. Different actions or responses may be performed, e.g., bythe alarm analysis module 230, based on an alarm's classification, asdescribed above.

The collected alarms may be escalated, at block 308. Such escalation mayinclude a user selecting one or more alarms for escalation, includingadditional descriptions or information associated with the alarms, andcausing an incident report to be generated and distributed to one ormore users or organizations, in one embodiment. Processes associatedwith escalating alarms are described in association with FIG. 6.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example flow diagram for collecting alarminformation, according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The methodmay begin at block 402, where a template associated with various alarmsmay be generated, e.g., by the template generation module 220, in oneembodiment. The template may include fields, components, graphicalobjects, etc., that may be associated with a particular type of alarmsuch that tailored information may be presented for each type of alarm,in one embodiment. In one embodiment, a user may utilize the templategeneration module 220 to select create a template, for example, using adrag-and-drop operations to place GUI objects on a canvass area to formthe template.

At block 404, one or more power generation assets, such as, but notlimited to, a generator, turbine, or motor, may be monitored for analarm, e.g., by the alarm monitoring module 222. An alarm may bereceived at block 406. In one embodiment, the alarm may be received froma sensor associated with an asset over a network, e.g., the network 105.The received alarm may be stored in a queue, e.g., by the alarmmonitoring module 222, at block 408. In one embodiment, the alarm may bestored in a queue based on a type of the alarm, a priority associatedwith the alarm, and/or an age associated with the alarm. According toone example, newer, more critical alarms may be stored closer to the topof a queue such that they may be processed before older, less criticalalarms.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example flow diagram for presenting alarms andassociated information, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.The process may begin at block 502, where information associated with atype of a received alarm may be identified, e.g., by the alarmprocessing module 224. In one embodiment, the alarm information may bequeried from a database storing information associated with an assetaccording to a time at which the alarm was received. A template, such asa template generated at block 402, may be identified based at least inpart on a type of the alarm, at block 504. The template may be populatedwith the information associated with the alarm, at block 506, and thepopulated template may be output to a display, e.g., via the alarmpresentation module 228, at block 508.

A notification regarding the status of an alarm may be provided, atblock 510. In certain embodiments, in association with any block shownin FIGS. 4 and 5, a status message may be output to a display such thata user may be updated regarding the status of an alarm. For example, auser may receive a message that an alarm has been received, is beingprocessed, and/or has been processed and is ready to be acted upon. Morespecific messages that may include details associated with the type ofdata being retrieved for an alarm, or other particular information, maybe provided in other embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example flow diagram for escalating an alarm,according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The process may begin atblock 602, where a request to escalate an alarm may be received. Therequest may include one or more details associated with the alarm. Suchdetails may be entered by a user analyzing the alarms, in oneembodiment, or may be included by the alarm analysis module 230 in FIG.2 based on historical information associated with the alarm, in anotherembodiment.

An incident report associated with an alarm selected for escalation maybe generated, at block 606. The incident report may include variousinformation associated with the alarm such that one or more users ororganizations that receive the escalated alarm may begin preventing orresolving abnormal conditions associated with the escalated alarm. Theincident report may be distributed to the one or more users ororganizations (e.g., electronic user accounts associated with the usersor organizations, in one embodiment), at block 608. The user accountsmay be selected based on information that may associate the users withthe alarms. For example, alarm template information may indicate thatcertain users in an organization are experienced with handling certaintypes of alarms and may therefore disposition the alarms to these users.Other information may be utilized in other embodiments to select towhich users or organizations alarms may be dispositioned. An identifierassociated with the incident report may be generated and stored, atblock 610.

The processes 300, 400, 500, and 600 are illustrated as logical flowdiagrams, in which each operation represents a sequence of operationsthat can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof.In the context of software, the operations can representcomputer-executable instructions stored on one or more computer-readablestorage media that, when executed by one or more processors, perform therecited operations. Generally, computer-executable instructions caninclude control blocks, routines, programs, objects, components, datastructures, and the like that perform particular functions or implementparticular abstract data types. The order in which the operations aredescribed is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and anynumber of the described operations can be combined in any order and/orin parallel to implement the process.

Although embodiments have been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the disclosure is not necessarily limited to the specific featuresor acts described. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosedas illustrative forms of implementing the embodiments.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by an alarmprocessing system comprising one or more computing devices, an alarmindicating an abnormal condition in a power generation asset;identifying, by the alarm processing system, data associated with thealarm; identifying, by the alarm processing system, a template forpresenting at least a portion of the data based at least in part on atype of the alarm; updating, by the alarm processing system, thetemplate with the data; and outputting, by the alarm processing system,to a display, at least one message providing at least one respectivestatus associated with the alarm.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: monitoring, by the alarm processing system, for the alarm;and storing, by the alarm processing system, the alarm in a queue of aplurality of queues based at least in part on a priority associated withthe alarm.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the data associated withthe alarm comprises information associated with the power generationasset.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the data is identified based atleast in part on a time at which the alarm was received.
 5. The methodof claim 1, wherein the power generation asset comprises at least one ofa generator, a turbine, or a compressor.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the at least one message indicates that an alarm is ready to beacted upon.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising outputting, bythe alarm processing system, the template to the display.
 8. A systemcomprising: a power generation asset; a sensor coupled to the powergeneration asset; at least one memory that stores computer-executableinstructions; and at least one processor configured to access the atleast one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured toexecute the computer-executable instructions to: receive an alarmindicating an abnormal condition in power generation asset; identifydata associated with the alarm; identify a template for presenting atleast a portion of the data based at least in part on a type of thealarm; update the template with the data; and output, to a display, atleast one message providing at least one respective status associatedwith the alarm.
 9. The system of claim 8, the at least one processorfurther configured to: monitor for the alarm; and store the alarm in aqueue of a plurality of queues based at least in part on a priorityassociated with the alarm.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein the datais identified based at least in part on a time at which the alarm wasreceived.
 11. The system of claim 8, wherein the power generation assetcomprises at least one of a generator, a turbine, or a compressor. 12.The system of claim 8, wherein the at least one message indicates thatan alarm is ready to be acted upon.
 13. The system of claim 8, the atleast one processor further configured to output the template to thedisplay.
 14. A method comprising: receiving, by an alarm processingsystem comprising one or more computing devices, an alarm indicating anabnormal condition in a power generation asset; identifying, by thealarm processing system, historical information associated with thealarm; determining, by the alarm processing system, a categoryassociated with the alarm based at least in part on the historicalinformation; when the category indicates that the alarm is actionable,sending a message to one or more user accounts associated with the alarmbefore an abnormal condition associated with the alarm occurs; and whenthe category indicates that the alarm requires assistance, sending themessage to the one or more user accounts associated with the alarmrequesting assistance to resolve an abnormal condition that has occurredin association with the alarm.
 15. The method of claim 14, furthercomprising: receiving, by the alarm processing system, a request toescalate the alarm; and in response to the request, generating, by thealarm processing system, an incident report associated with the alarm.16. The method of claim 14, wherein the one or more user accountscomprise one or more first user accounts, the method further comprising:receiving, by the alarm processing system, additional informationassociated with the alarm; associating, by the alarm processing system,the additional information with the incident report; and sending, by thealarm processing system, the incident report to one or more second useraccounts associated with the alarm.
 17. The method of claim 14, whereinthe category indicates that the alarm is at least one of actionable,requires assistance, or was missed.
 18. The method of claim 17, furthercomprising, when the alarm was missed, updating the category associatedwith the alarm to actionable.
 19. The method of claim 14, wherein thepower generation asset comprises at least one of a generator, a turbine,or a compressor.
 20. The method of claim 14, wherein the historicalinformation comprises information associated with one or more incidentreports associated with the alarm.